Page 22 of Revival

I want to kiss her so fucking badly, but—

I turn my head, awkwardly causing her mouth to collide with my cheek.

I close my eyes on a long blink as shame and regret rush to share space with my ever=-present guilt.

"I'm sorry." Andi quickly pulls back.

"Andrea," I whisper.

"I just assumed. I… I need to leave." She leaves my truck before I can get my ass into gear and go after her, disappearing into her R.V. before I can say anything to stop her.

I flop back onto my air mattress with a grunt. What kind ofidiotturns their head away from a kiss with a woman likethat?

The following morning, I join Jacob and the rest of the band for breakfast in the tour bus.

"Well, hello there, cock-blocker," he mocks as I climb aboard.

"What?"

"Dude. I haven't seen my girl in, like, a month. I just needed you to keep her friend busy for a couple of hours, man."

"Whatever, man. I'm sure you figured it out."

"Oh, we did." His smirk tells me all I need to know.

"Ugh, TMI," Derek jokes. "We're on at seven on the main stage. Be in the green room by six to go over the setlist. And, Bobby, stay sober today. We don't need any repeats of Jersey."

"Dude, it was one time, and we all know it was the crazy chick who slipped something in my drink." Bobby hides his face in his hands.

"I don't know, watching our drummer try to play with his feet was fucking hysterical," Keith adds.

"We all warned you about dating a stripper," Jacob lectured. "Now, kick rocks. I gotta talk to Rome for a minute."

"Daniel," I correct him. Again.

The guys file out, leaving me sitting there like a kid who's about to get lectured by his father.

"What the hell happened last night?" His tone has me instantly on edge.

"I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation of why I don't want to make out with some random chick so that you can get your dick sucked."

"Andi came back to the R.V. saying she was humiliated. The rest of the night, all Lindsay would talk about is how you hurt her friend."

Fuck, the last thing I wanted was to humiliate Andrea. I should have never put myself in a situation like that, knowing damn well I'm not ready for it.

"Look, man, I'm sorry. The last thing I intended to do was hurt your girl's friend, but dude, you need to respect my situation. I know you want to see me happy, but I'm not ready. Bailey and I were just starting something new."

"Bro, what? You and Bailey?" Jacob's eyebrows creep up his forehead.

"You know I've always had a thing for her, but she was with her old man.” I sit down onto a bench seat. “They broke up, and I took my shot. I asked her out; we went to dinner.” Shaking my head, I focus on that night with Bailey. “I kissed her once on the porch of her friend's place. A few days later, we were robbed."

"Holy shit, man.” Jacob shakes his head. “I had no idea.”

I grunt in agreement. “Well, now you do.”

“And… because Bailey's in a coma, you're also putting your life on hold?"

His question tightens the muscles across my back. "How can I not? Those bastards said they wanted my winnings, like I just kept twenty-five grand laying around. It all comes down to one thing: if I hadn't gone onTattoo Geniusand won, life would be how it's supposed to be."

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